Photograph by: Jason Payne Jason Payne
, Vancouver Sun

Residence sizes and prices: Two models of three-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom homes ranging from 1,460 — 1,489 square feet on two levels, and an additional 700 square feet of unfinished basement

Prices: from $379,800 — $489,950

Builder and developer: Epic Homes

Sales centre: 24177 102nd Ave., Maple Ridge

Hours: noon — 6 p.m., daily

Wander through the rooms of SpringSide’s display suite and you’ll get gentle reminders of the world outside.

In many respects, the interiors of Epic Homes’ presentation home would suit anyone in the city. With calm neutrals, whites and soft hues in the main living spaces, the town houses are inviting and would appeal to wide tastes.

But this, of course, is Maple Ridge. Nestled against the Coast Mountains, and situated on the Fraser River, Maple Ridge is connected by a new bridge to a more urban Greater Vancouver. Still, it’s known for its scenic countryside and its rural — yet sophisticated — community feel.

If Sandra Lecy could define a theme for the character she’s created when designing the SpringSide display home, she says it would be “country chic and family-friendly.”

“My creative sense for this home was to complement the outdoor country feel that Maple Ridge still has and bring it indoors.

“The wooden pieces I used are useful and make for interesting conversation (and add) a bit of heritage.”

In every room but the bedroom, Lecy has placed one piece of furniture that inspires a rural, country feeling, such as a rustic dark cabinet in the living room, and the cross-legged solid wood dining room table.

Lecy has fashioned an extra room into a man cave of sorts, infusing it with humour and the tropes of the armchair jock.

She removed the closet doors and placed a small portable bar for food and drink storage. The little touches include a cooler-as-footstool beside the coffee table, and a Coleman lantern on the portable bar. Four TV screens arranged in a square on the wall cater to the needs of every indecisive sports fiend, and sports jerseys posted to the wall add boyish charm.

In this room, too, Lecy added a touch of old-school rural with an antique trunk as a coffee table.

Upstairs, the master bedroom, decorated in grey and white, features a vaulted ceiling; an ensuite bathroom has a separate soaker tub and ceramic surround shower stall.

“My intent for the master bedroom was to create an inviting restful retreat, private and romantic,” she says.

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